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Jacksonville Ethics Commission Takes the Lead in Ethics Reform
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Robert Wechsler
In Jacksonville-- where City Ethics' founder, Carla Miller, is the
Ethics Officer -- the ethics commission is taking the lead in ethics
reform, according to an
article in the Jacksonville Daily
Record.
The EC legislative subcommittee is recommending, for presentation to the charter revision commission, the following reforms:
The second and third recommendations, which give the EC independence and teeth, are extremely important. However, I'm not a fan of having ethics codes in charters, because changes are so hard to make. On the other hand, in a city such as Jacksonville, where elected officials appear to have been dragged into the modern world of government ethics, it might be worth putting the ethics code into the charter in order to protect the code and the EC from mayoral and council interference.
According to a guest column in the Times-Union, Jim Rinaman, who is credited with having helped design Jacksonville's government, recommended to the charter revision commission that EC members be elected by district. I have never heard of EC members being elected. It would seem that requiring EC members to get involved in electoral politics, and the parties that participate in them, would undermine their independence and prevent many unaffiliated or nonpolitical people -- the best sort for an EC -- from becoming members.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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The EC legislative subcommittee is recommending, for presentation to the charter revision commission, the following reforms:
1. Putting the ethics code back into
the city charter
2. Having a funding source for the EC to be set aside, so that the EC can hire staff. This would allow the ethics officer to report to the EC instead of to both the mayor and the council president, an impossible situation for an ethics officer.
3. Giving the EC subpoena powers and the power to issue civil fines
2. Having a funding source for the EC to be set aside, so that the EC can hire staff. This would allow the ethics officer to report to the EC instead of to both the mayor and the council president, an impossible situation for an ethics officer.
3. Giving the EC subpoena powers and the power to issue civil fines
The second and third recommendations, which give the EC independence and teeth, are extremely important. However, I'm not a fan of having ethics codes in charters, because changes are so hard to make. On the other hand, in a city such as Jacksonville, where elected officials appear to have been dragged into the modern world of government ethics, it might be worth putting the ethics code into the charter in order to protect the code and the EC from mayoral and council interference.
According to a guest column in the Times-Union, Jim Rinaman, who is credited with having helped design Jacksonville's government, recommended to the charter revision commission that EC members be elected by district. I have never heard of EC members being elected. It would seem that requiring EC members to get involved in electoral politics, and the parties that participate in them, would undermine their independence and prevent many unaffiliated or nonpolitical people -- the best sort for an EC -- from becoming members.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
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